Romeo and Juliet
by Joley123
Summary: Modern day Shakespeare taking place in Toronto, two starcrossed lovers bound by the hearts but seperated by a violent feud. Will Trent Harrison and Gwen Bennett make it out alive? Or will it lead to their untimely demise?
1. Chapter 1

In the streets of Toronto, battle lines are drawn. Two groups, cliques, families, whatever you want to call it, have defined the city. On one side, there are the Harrisons with their only son, Trent. On the other, there are the Bennetts, with their only daughter, Gwen. The battle lines have been drawn for decades, nearly the whole town divided. Violence can break out at any moment.

The mayor of this city, Chris McLean, has grown disgusted of the constant threat of attack breaking out.

However, the love formed between the star-crossed teens may end the feud…and potentially more.

Our story begins in an average street, on an average day; at least…that's how it began.

Two members of the Bennett clan, Ezekiel and Tyler, were walking down the scarcely filled streets, poking fun at the name of their enemies.

"Nothing good about them" Tyler was saying.

"Not a thing, eh?" Ezekiel replied with a light chuckle. Tyler paused a moment to think. "Their women are easy on the eyes, if you catch my drift."

His homeschooled friend blinked in confusion. "Not really."

Tyler sighed. "The girls over there, they're really pretty, but not in a classy way." He explained.

"Like the eyes aren't the only thing they're easy on, eh?" He jested.

Tyler patted him on the back. "Now you're catching on buddy."

The conversation went on of them beating the men and defiling the women of the Harrison name.

"Look over there dude." Tyler whispered, nudging towards two guys walking down the street from the opposite end.

These two guys were Owen and DJ, two members of the Harrisons.

As they walked by, Tyler made a crude remark under his breath. Owen caught what he said and turned around, having DJ do the same.

"You looking for a tussle?" He spoke harshly. Owen is a normally happy person, his dark side only coming out around a Bennett.

"Tussle?" Tyler retorted with a smirk. "No one talks like that bro."

Owen took a step towards him, shoving. "You and your friend here aren't welcome"

"It's a free country, eh." Ezekiel piped up.

A few sharp words were exchanged before a brawl broke out. Fists flew, curses were shouted, and a crowd had formed around them.

Suddenly, a voice with increasing volume shouted.

"Stop! You guys, stop!" The voice belonged to Cody, Trent's cousin. Cody was pacifist, against the fighting. He did everything he could whenever the opportunity approached. Of course, his small size was his handicap, no one taking him seriously.

At the same time, from the other end, another person approached.

Duncan, Gwen's cousin and the opposite of Cody in every way. He loved a good fight and often started them. His hate of losing was matched only by that of his hate for the Harrisons.

He stood in front of his smaller counterpart.

"Keep your mouth shut, wimp." He spat coldly.

"Your own friends could be seriously injured, don't you care?"

"As long as a Harrison is injured as well, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to take. Now shut up or fight." He retorted, moving his fist under Cody's nose.

Cody backed off and the fighting commenced.

"Attention!" A voice called out, but no one noticed.

"Attention!" It called again.

"HEY, LISTEN UP YOU IDIOTS!" The voice roared and the fighting ceased.

It was the mayor, Chris McLean. Although short, he had a loud voice that made people listen. He looked very angry.

"Your constant fighting is making this city look bad. It makes ME look bad." He took a deep breath then spoke again.

"The next people who fight will face _grave _consequences." He stated solemnly.

A look of panic swept over the group. With silent glares sent to each other, they returned to their respective neighbourhoods.

Chris sighed to himself.

"One of these days it'll go too far…"


	2. Chapter 2

As the crowd of people dispersed, Cody was left alone with Bridgette and Geoff Harrison.

"Cody, what happened?" She asked, concern thickly coating her words.

"Another fight broke out, Duncan saw me and tried to pick a fight, it only escalated from there, then the mayor came and broke it up and he was angry, threatening us and all."

"Was Trent there?" She inquired.

"I haven't seen him all day. He barely leaves the house and when he does he just walks around all mopey and depressed." He explained.

"What is wrong with that boy?" Geoff asked, annoyed that he could not understand what was wrong with his only son.

"He won't say. Not to me, not to the therapist, not to anyone." Cody sighed.

"I'm really worried about him." Bridgette said. There was a slight whimper in her voice so her husband placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'll go find him." Cody offered. They nodded and Cody went to look for his cousin.

Cody did eventually find him back at the Harrison home. His bedroom was on the top floor, overlooking the whole city. Cody walked to his room reproachfully. The door was open just a bit and Cody peered inside. Trent was sitting by the window, looking gloomy and staring out, seeming to observe the world. He was holding his guitar and strumming aimlessly. He slowly walked in and approached his raven-haired cousin.

"Hey Trent…" He greeted shyly.

"What happened to your face?" Trent asked solemnly, looking up from his guitar that he was strumming. In the fight, Duncan had been sure to get a few blows to Cody's head, leaving him bruised and bleeding.

"Another fight broke out in the streets, it was bad. Zeke's in the hospital." Cody replied sadly, Ezekiel was a close friend of his.

Trent sighed and looked out the window.

"This feud will be the death of me."

He sighed again, for the past few weeks; Trent has moped around the house and around town, heartbroken, for his love, the fair and beautiful Lindsay, does not feel the same love that ached in his heart. She controlled his thoughts with her beauty and grace, although she had told him she was saving her love for marriage, which was allegedly false for he had heard rumours linking her to Tyler.

He felt like she was taking a dagger and thrusting it repeatedly through his chest.

"Why must life be so cruel?" He'd ask.

His parents, Bridgette and Geoff, were beginning to take notice of his depressed and apathetic behaviour. After a tragic accident that cost her the function of her uterus, Bridgette could no longer bear children, thus causing her to closely care for her only son.

"Sweetie please talk to us." She pleaded with him.

"There's no point" He would respond in a melancholy tone.

Cody tried again to appeal to Trent.

"Please dude, you're my cousin and my best friend, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong." He begged. Trent just sighed, walking out on the deck.

"Love has destroyed me; I am an empty shell of a man." Cody, unaware of this, felt the need to inquire further.

"You're in love?" He asked.

"Lindsay. Beautiful, beautiful Lindsay. She has stolen my heart like she steals the light from the stars and captures them in her eyes."

Cody patted him on the back. "You must have it bad, huh?"

Trent just nodded in response.

"You wanna talk about it?" Cody offered.

Trent shook his head.

"I'm gonna take a walk, leave me to wallow in my misery and self pity." He said, sulking out the door.

Cody sighed, and then lit up with an idea.

"I'm gonna help him move on if it's the last thing I do.


	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile in the Bennett orchard, Alejandro, the son of a wealthy diplomat had started a talk with Harold, the head of the Bennett household. He had approached him with an interesting proposition.

"Please, Bennett, consider my offer." Alejandro was saying.

"You do have a point, but Gwen is only sixteen, she's still a minor, and arranging a marriage is highly taboo these days, she probably won't go for it." He explained to Alejandro who was 21. "And even if it wasn't, still wait until she's 18." He suggested.

"But this will give you priority over the Harrisons, and wouldn't you want that now?" Alejandro replied, knowing how to get to him.

"Still…" he sighed. "Gwen is very opinionated and stubborn."

Alejandro did take this into account, and then smiled.

"It wouldn't be too difficult for me to change her mind." He reassured him.

Harold pondered that for a moment, still having his doubts.

"Tell you what, Burromuerto, the wife and I are having our annual gala next week." The Bennett galas were legendary in Toronto. "Please come and feel free to woo her, but don't limit your eyes to only her, mingle, you may not even be too interested in her by the night's end." He said.

Alejandro nodded. "Fair enough, but I doubt I will have eyes for anyone but her." He said, shaking his hand in acceptance of the offer.

"Very good." He smiled then called out. "Beth!" he hollered as a short girl ran down the stairs to him.

"Yes sir?" She responded. She worked as a housekeeper for the Bennetts.

Harold handed her a sheet of paper.

"Find these people and invite them to the party." He ordered.

Beth squinted; her poor eyesight accompanied with Harold's illegible scrawling made the list very difficult to read.

"I can't understand this, sir." She admitted meekly.

Harold sighed. "Then find someone who can." He directed and she scurried off.

Beth walked around aimlessly for a while, not seeing a single soul in town. Finally, she came across Trent and Cody.

She walked over to them. "Uh, 'scuse me, but uh, can you read this?"

Trent looked at the girl, then at the sheet of paper. Being a songwriter, he often wrote sloppily, and he was able to decipher it.

"Sure thing." He agreed and held up the list.

"Andrew, wife Lisa, and sons Tyler and Peter

Olivia and son, Ezekiel

Alejandro and Burromuerto family

Dennis, wife Margret, and daughters Lindsay and Paula

Will, wife Amy, and sons Duncan, Jake, and Sean

Isaac and family"

Trent's eyes widened as he read off Lindsay's name. He felt his heart jump up into his throat and nearly gagged, luckily neither Cody nor Beth noticed.

"Well….here you go." He said quickly and handed the paper back to her.

She smiled and tucked it in her pocket.

"Oh, if you'd like, you guys can come, if you're not Harrisons of course." She said, adding a light chuckle at the second part.

Trent was about to admit his family name when Cody cut him off.

"We'll be there." He accepted the servant girl's offer.

With that, she smiled and went on her way.

"I'm not so sure about this…" Trent said which wasn't completely true, for he did crave to see Lindsay.

"Come on, it'll be fun, and there'll be plenty of hot girls there." Cody said, nudging him.

Trent knew his cousin meant well and indulged him.

"Alright…but only to see Lindsay."

Cody let out a light chuckle. "Just keep your options open."

"Maybe."


End file.
